Touring With Infinium Spirits Wonderbus

By Ellen Lampert-Greaux Jun 14, 2021 10:38am

Infinium Spirits Wonderbus, a "COVID-friendly" traveling concert on wheels, has officially launched in SoCal and the experiential marketing team behind the concept plans to launch well beyond the state. The idea came out of the pandemic: In 2019, the inaugural Wonderfront Music & Arts Festival took place in San Diego County hosting 125 bands on seven stages and drawing a total of 57,000 concertgoers to the city.COVID-19 halted all plans for a 2020 follow-up. Ernie Hahn, one of the festival's founders, had an idea - why not create a mobile live music business that can showcase local bands throughout the city in a safe and social distance manner? Live Design chats with Wonderbus Entertainment partner, EncoreXP's founder Armando Cepeda, and lighting designer Edgar Gonzales.

Live Design: How was Wonderbus created/produced? Provide some insight on how it was transferred into a stage?

Armando Cepeda: In late 2020, my partner Ernie Hahn of Dream Hahn and the Wonderfront Art & Music Festival came to me with a challenge of converting a London double decker bus into a rolling stage. Once we were able to secure a sponsorship with Infinium Spirits, we demoed the existing interior and created a new infrastructure with a stage, mobile power, lighting rig, audio system, and live stream rig.

LD: Tell me about the bus's sound system.

AC: With space being at a premium, we are using a rack-mounted Midas M32, and a JBL VRX audio sound system.

LD: Anything else you think is important to note about this bus as it relates to entertainment and technology?

AC: It has been amazing to see people's response to the bus pulling up and in a matter of minutes, we are creating a concert type vibe to the community. People have been starving for entertainment and we are so excited to see this take off. We are currently designing our next bus with future busses to come that will incorporate LED panels, beacon technology and user generated content for fans to engage with the bus and performers.

LD: Tell me about the bus's lighting.

Edgar Gonzales: We have limited space for rigging but have managed to put wash fixtures, movers, and bar fixtures to good use.

Lighting gear by JMAZ used on the Wonderbus:

4 Attco Spot 200 Moving Heads

4 Radiant Par Tron 7 Washes

8 PiXL FX Bars

Check out the slide show of Wonderbus images, and hats off to a creative pandemic pivot that seems to have "legs" as well as wheels, with a second bus ready to debut in the next month or so...

COVID-19 Lighting Lighting